The final installment of our six part series of top-notch services and amenities at our local hospitals

St. Vincent’s Medical Center in Bridgeport, CT is a 473-bed community teaching and referral hospital with a Level II trauma center and a 76-bed inpatient psychiatric facility in Westport, CT. Their active medical staff of more than 700 physicians represent a comprehensive range of more than 50 specialty and subspecialty medical and surgical disciplines. St. Vincent's is a member of Ascension Health, the largest Catholic non-profit healthcare system in the nation.

St. Vincent’s is one of only four hospitals in the state to receive an “A” Hospital Safety Score (trademark here “SM” from the Leapfrog Group), and recently was the recipient of the John D. Thompson Award from the Connecticut Hospital Association for its safety program. It was also named by Consumer Reports as among the five safest hospitals in the state.

St. Vincent’s was the first hospital in the state to have both its hip and knee joint replacement programs certified by the Joint Commission, and was named a Bariatrics Center of Excellence by the American Society for Bariatric Surgery and Surgical Review Corporation. St. Vincent’s is certified by JCAHO and the state of Connecticut as a Primary Stroke Center.

HIghlighted Specialty Services

A report released by HealthGrades, the nation’s leading independent source of physician information and hospital quality ratings, named St. Vincent’s Medical Center a recipient of the Coronary Intervention Excellence Award in 2012. St. Vincent’s was five-star rated and ranked among the top 10% in the nation for coronary interventional procedures in 2012.

St. Vincent’s comprehensive atrial fibrillation program encompasses both minimally invasive surgery and non-surgical treatment modalities to treat this condition. Most recently, St. Vincent’s became one of a handful of hospitals in the state to perform hybrid ablation, surgical and non-surgical treatments performed simultaneously. In the spring, the first robotic coronary artery bypass graft was performed at St. Vincent’s.

In November, 2011, St. Vincent’s opened its newly renovated Cardiac Non-Invasive Testing Unit conveniently located on the main level of the Medical Center right off the main lobby. The new area, which is approximately 7200 square feet, includes three stress testing rooms, a gowned patient waiting room, a two-bay stretcher holding space, a nuclear lab with an injection room and new imaging reading and administration spaces.

Cancer Services

The Elizabeth M. Pfriem SWIM Center for Cancer Care is accredited by the Commission on Cancer with commendation from the American College of Surgeons. This accreditation assures that you and your loved ones will receive the very best in cancer diagnosis, treatment and care close to home.

The Center for Cancer Care offers:

Recently rated #1 in Fairfield County by U.S. News and World Report and among the nation’s Best Hospitals for ENT care. Patients with cancers of the head and neck are seen by St. Vincent’s otolaryngologists, who work in collaboration with specialists in medical and radiation oncology. This integrative, multi-disciplinary approach offers patients the most comprehensive, compassionate care in the hands of world-class physicians, specialists and advanced practice nurses.

A non-invasive option for patients with lung, liver, brain and spine tumors. Stereotactic Body Radiotherapy (SBRT) uses the Novalis Tx™ system (equivalent to cyberknife and gamma knife technology), which delivers treatment painlessly and non-invasively in an outpatient setting.

Hereditary Risk Assessment Program assesses risk for developing certain types of cancers based on your personal or family cancer history. A simple test may indicate a predisposition to cancer that may be found in your genes. With a doctor’s referral, you can obtain a one-on-one consultation with the Hereditary Risk Assessment Nurse.

New Signage outside each room denotes when patients or families request quiet time.

Family Room where members can go to relax, meet and re-energize from the stress of caring for a loved one with cancer. This room is also equipped with computers allowing access to resources and information on cancer treatments and symptom management.

Nurses and physician stations are centrally located allowing for easier access to the oncology staff.

Doors and elevators were constructed to reduce noise.

Sunday brunch is offered each week allowing families and patients an opportunity to get to know each other and offer support and companionship.

Compassionate oncology care with attention given to spiritual and emotional well-being and physical healing, is provided by experienced, expert nurses, many of whom are nationally certified in oncology. Continuity of care is enhanced through the SWIM Integrative Survivorship Programand St. Vincent’s Ambulatory Infusion Center.

St. Vincent’s was the first hospital in Fairfield County and only the third in the state to receive designation as a Baby Friendly™ hospital by the World Health Organization and the United Nation’s Children’s Fund (UNICEF).Through the Baby Friendly Hospital Initiative, the FBC focuses on fetal and maternal health, ensuring positive childbirth experiences and facilitating successful breastfeeding and bonding between mother and baby.

Birthplace at St. Vincent's
The only area in-hospital, family-centered facility designed around midwife delivery and a holistic concept of birthing.

Here you have the advantage of natural, minimal intervention-delivery within the safety net of a medical center. St. Vincent’s has partnered with Circle for Life Midwifery in Shelton, whose staff of two certified nurse midwives, Sarah Najamy, CNM, and Paula Cate, CNM, have obstetrical privileges at the Medical Center.

Facilities & Amenities

Two private birth suites with a warm decor, plush bed linens where mothers can labor and deliver under the guidance of a midwife

Common area and kitchen where mom or relative can even cook for the family

While traditional physical therapy interventions are helpful in strengthening trunk or core muscles and lower extremities to help improve balance, muscle weakness is only one possible cause for imbalance and falls. Chronic balance problems tend to come from issues stemming from the inner ear or an event in the brain, such as a stroke. St. Vincent’s can diagnose and treat such conditions.

State-of-the-art Technology—

New Infrared Goggles can clearly show Nystagmus, a condition of involuntary eye movement resulting in severe dizziness. With this knowledge the physical therapists can tell the type of inner ear problem and why the dizziness and balance issues are occurring.

The vestibular balance program also holds NASA technology in their pocket. The dynamic posturography machine, Neurocom Smart Equi-test Balance Master and Force Plate, creates a computerized assessment of patients’ balance challenges. This machine gives the therapists the added ability to test patients in a variety of situations and assess multiple systems, including visual, vestibular, muscular and sensory.